Departments instructed to strengthen internal audit wing

Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of recommendations of the Comptroller Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee of state assembly, the government has asked all departments to strengthen their internal audit wings.

There were complaints that, internal audit in the departments did not examine crucial aspects like financial management and the system has become callous exercise.

The finance department has now devised a structure and terms of reference for internal auditing. Also, heads of departments will face action for failure to form audit wings or submit reports on time. Audit teams should examine all financial transactions of the department within the prevailing fiscal. For this, all finance-related documents should be verified and figures should be correlated to trace malpractice. The cash chest shoul be verified and the balance amount, as per the cash book, should be ensured. The team should also verify whether the department is maintaining all the prescribed registers.